Sharp develops a robotic porter and a bed side assistance robot for hotels

When we first heard of a hotel run by robots, we indeed were slightly taken aback, given the fact that the hospitality industry relies heavily on “people” skills and requires the human touch! However, the Henn na Hotel in Sasebo, Nagasaki, founded by a businessman named Hideo Sawada, made us think otherwise. This hotel, run by robots, is as unique as it gets and has a mechanical staff, literally! Recently, Sharp got on board to develop two robots for the hotel. Of the two robots, one works as a porter while the other is a bedside assistant that we think is extremely handy.
The porter robot does everything you’d expect it to and helps guests with their luggage around the hotel. Also, given the fact that this one’s a robot with no emotions whatsoever, tipping isn’t a compulsion. The bedside assistant robot, called the Tyuri Robo, enables guests to set alarms, control the lighting of their rooms and check the weather outside. The voice-controlled robot looks quite adorable too and is nothing like the humanoid monsters we’ve been exposed to in contemporary sci-fi films. That said, the Henn na Hotel is an experience unlike any other, offering a comfortable stay with oodles of technology keeping you company.